First, I know that the RIAA base their calculations on the number of discs/albums/tapes included in the release. I don't understand how that works in practice.

I have a few examples:

Goodbye Yellow Brick Road was a double album on release but is now a single CD. If I buy a CD copy of that now would that count as one or two according to the RIAA? Similarly, if I bought it on double vinyl (as I did last week) would it count as one or two according to the RIAA.

Thriller was a single album when released but Thriller 25 is a double. Assuming the RIAA treat all variations of Thriller as the same album does the count increment by different amounts depending on the version I buy?

I can understand why they started doing it in the way they did. Unfortunately technology has overtaken them and it appears to be a tad messy now.

Second, I was wondering about is where do people get their sales figures from. I know how to get figures from RIAA and BPI but what about countries such as Germany, Japan or France. Are there official sites with searchable databases for these countries?

I have an iTunes/chart related question so I thought I would ask it here.

I bought, for example, Cher Lloyds song Swagger Jagger a few months ago on iTunes.

Now if I buy the rest of her 'Sticks & Stones' album as a 'complete my album' purchase (ie. now buy all songs except Swagger Jagger), will this count as a sale of her ALBUM, or a sale or individual tracks?

I'm not sure this qualifies as frequently asked, but I'm going to ask anyway;

It appears these days that the announcement of a new single is enough for many to scuttle off to iTunes to download whatever version of the track they can find.

There are instances where the single release includes a featured artist that the album track doesn't, so we have occasions where a track is chart listed with a featured artist before it's even available. A recent example that springs to mind is Worry About You by Tyler James featuring Kano, which was released on 15th February, so could only, really, possibly have charted w/e 23rd February. However, it entered the chart w/e 09 February at #183 and climbed to #52 the following week, from what could only have been sales of the track from Tyler James' album, A Place I Go, which does not feature Kano and is more than half a minute shorter in duration.

Now, I can accept multiple variants on a track being combined into one for sales purposes (albeit I believe sales of an EP or Remixes bundle should only count as one sale, equivalent to an old fashioned multi-track CD Single - remember them?), but surely tracks should be correctly listed on the official charts, even if the catalogue number used is the same?

is correct. What would happen if, under the existing system, after the second week the track dropped out of the chart? Kano would forever be credited with an appearance in the chart for a track which he didn't appear on!

What is the Billboard (US) Internet Album Chart based on?It's based sales from internet retailers that are counted by Soundscan (e.g Amazon)

In the US, what are audience impressions?Audience impressions are the amount of people listening per week at all the radio stations across the country. The US Billboard singles charts are made up of airplay *and* single/digital sales, so audience impressions are used.

In Brazil, is the chart site Hot 100 Brasil official?No, it's completely fabricated.

Is the Billboard Rock Album Chart based on total sales or from sales from specialist rock music shops?Data for Billboard's sales charts -- which include all of our album charts -- are compiled by Nielsen SoundScan from a universe of merchants that represents more than 90% of the U.S. music retail market. The sample includes not only music stores and the music departments at electronics and department stores, but also direct-to-consumer transactions and Internet sales (both physical albums via Internet, and ones bought via digital downloads). A limited array of verifiable sales from concert venues is also tabulated.

All sales charts use the entire Nielsen SoundScan panel, with the exception of the R&B/Hip-Hop charts which uses a panel of core stores that specialize in the genre. The Nielsen SoundScan system utilizes that same point-of-sale that music merchants use to track their inventory, so you can think of itemized receipt from your last trip to the music store as a ballot cast for our charts. (From Billboard)

Do music video sales count towards a songs total?

In the US, music video sales from legal download outlets are not counted in a songs total and do not help a song on the Billboard charts.

I read this but I still have several questions.

What about some live albums that also have the DVD counterpart (such as Led Zeppelin's The Song Remains The Same). Does the reported SoundScan total of this album (150,000 as of January 2013) include sales of the DVD and Blu-ray editions, or only the CD edition?

Does the SoundScan total of an artist (such as the 64 mil. figure for the Beatles) include sales of digital albums and singles? What about physical singles?